T

he Democratic Party has finally declared its political stance regarding the bill on regional elections. The party, headed by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, affirmed its support for the system of direct regional elections and noted 10 points of improvement.

The Democrats'€™ political choice is in line with public aspirations desiring direct regional elections by the people. Electing leaders constitutes the people'€™s political right fought for by the nation'€™s reform movement. Yudhoyono'€™s position conforms to the statements of governors, regents and mayors, as well as to the aspirations reflected in some surveys indicating preference for direct regional elections.

The public is expecting the realization of the Democratic Party general chairman'€™s political move in the House of Representatives (DPR). The Democratic Party'€™s political shift has to be manifested in the DPR through the Democratic Party faction and the government'€˜s stance has to be represented by the Home Ministry.

The complexity of legislation that could arise from elections through regional legislative councils (DPRD) should be understood by a number of DPR factions. The persistent attempt made by these factions to force regional elections through the DPRD with the excuse that rampant vote buying implicates regional heads is actually easy to disprove. In reality, corruption has also involved three cabinet ministers, a Constitutional Court justice elected by the DPR and legislators themselves.

'€” Kompas, Jakarta